Cities could see more green over legislature's change to red light camera law

When South Florida cities began installing red-light cameras
several years ago, most expected a revenue bump along with increased
intersection safety.

But while most studies show few crashes at
intersections with red-light cameras, many cities haven’t seen the money
they expected, and at least one is several thousand dollars in the
hole.

Now, some cities plan to use new changes in Florida’s
red-light camera laws to wring more money out of strapped camera
programs.

The new legislation, which went into effect July 1, requires
municipalities with the cameras to set up local hearing boards for
people who get violation notices and want to fight them. It gives
drivers more time to appeal, and doesn’t force them to wait until after
payment is due and their $158 notice of violation becomes a $264 Uniform
Traffic Citation in order to contest it. More here from Jonathan Simmons.

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I am hoping one day that a single newspaper will rise to the education of physics 101 and know that the FDOT sets the yellow light duration to HALF the time it takes a driver to stop. It would nice if traffic engineers themselves rose to that education.

Never mind that no city in Florida or the state in their annual undocumented survey will disclose how many red light violation (RLV) crashes there were before & after the use of automated for-profit law enforcement. The state did not even make this a category for their survey.

Never mind that every government and quasi-government lobbyist opposes extending yellow light times, a proven safety measure.

Attorney Hollander has detailed the main problems with the kangaroo court law from the 2013 session. It was added at 1:35 AM on the day before the session ended.

Consider also the city gets very little from their "cut" of the $75 under current law, sometimes nothing after the device vendors are paid. With the kangaroo court law, they can add on $250 and keep it all. It's just like Wheel of (Mis)Fortune: Big money!

Big money to the tune of $520,000+ since 2008 from ATS alone buys legislators. Average people have no say in their government other than at the ballot box.

The Liberty First Network is leading the fight in Florida against red light cameras in 2014. Visit and support us at www.libertyfirstfl.org.